Colorado, though just a .500 team for the season and in the Big 12 Conference, can complete a sweep of its South Division opponents by winning Saturday in Lubbock.

Tech, though 6-2 for the season, has lost three of its last five against Big 12 North opponents. Tech has to win Saturday to avoid losing the three-game season series to the North for the second year in a row.

That doesn't make Tech coach Mike Leach happy, but he doesn't sound like a man who spent any time this week deciphering reasons why.

"I think they're good teams, and there's ups and downs and lots of variables,'' said Leach, who is 13-10 against North teams. "It depends on how it went the week before, who's healthy, who's not ...

Tech vs. the North

A look at how Texas Tech has fared against the Big 12 North Division since the league's inception in 1996.

 2007: WL

 2006: LLW

 2005: WWW

 2004: WWW

 2003: WLW

 2002: LWL

 2001: LWL

 2000: LLW

 1999: WLW

 1998: WLL

 1997: WLL

 1996: LWL

College Football

 Record under Mike Leach: 13-10

 Record under Spike Dykes: 5-7 College football

 Who: Texas Tech vs. Colorado

 When: 11 a.m. Saturday

 Where: Jones AT&T Stadium

 TV: ABC (Channel 28, Suddenlink Cable channel 8)

 Records: Colorado 4-4, 2-2 in Big 12; Tech 6-2, 2-2

 Last game: Kansas 19, Colorado 14; Missouri 41, Tech 10

 Last meeting: Colorado 30, Tech 6 last year in Boulder, Colo.

 Line: Tech by 131/2

"I just think it's random. There's no special method of preparing (for North teams), nor should there be. If there is, that's a group that's about to screw up.''

To those who would say competitive balance between the two divisions swings in cycles, Tech's showing under Leach seems to offer compelling evidence. The Red Raiders lost two out of three to North opponents each year from 2000 through 2002, but shortly thereafter enjoyed a seven-game winning streak against the North that included sweeps in 2004 and 2005.

Then last October, Missouri and Colorado beat Tech in back-to-back games in which the Raiders were favored, and Missouri made it two in row against Tech last week, winning 41-10.

Before the Tech-Texas A&M game this season, Tech quarterback Graham Harrell said all Big 12 games are huge and equally valued to the players involved; fans just make more of the ones against division rivals.

Leach didn't have a definitive answer whether it was harder to motivate players for a game against a North team compared to one against an instate rival.

"That'd be a little more interesting from the standpoint of the players,'' he said. "Guys on our team would know more of the players from schools within the state and less of them at Iowa State. Regardless how well you know somebody or don't know somebody, if you're going to play, at some point you have to focus on your job and doing it the best of your ability, whether it's against Deion Sanders or Joe Bob from high school.''

Though Leach has a winning record against the other division, North teams have been at the scene of some major Tech meltdowns - Missouri and Colorado in 2003, for example - and its teams also have sprung upsets on the Raiders, such as Kansas' 2001 overtime victory on a Tech homecoming and CU's win in 2006.

Colorado caught Tech in turmoil last year, coming off a homecoming loss to Missouri. The Buffaloes had problems of their own, being winless at the time, but they spanked Tech 30-6.

"I think last year we didn't go in there with the right mentality,'' Tech senior cornerback Chris Parker said. "They didn't win a game (in the first six of 2006). I think a lot of people read into that. This year, they're pretty good, and I think we're going to be focused and ready to play.''

Since the league formed in 1996, Colorado and Nebraska have 20-15 regular-season records versus the South Division, the best in the North.

The Buffs made the South take notice on Sept. 29, upsetting then-No. 3 Oklahoma 27-24 in Boulder, Colo. They held the Sooners to 230 yards, a 1-for-9 showing on third-down conversions and only 21 minutes of possession time.